UNTIL GWEN--Dennis Lehane
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lXthgpRBoM
Click on this link and read (saving paper):
adlibris.com/se/images/UntilGwen.pdf
An interview with Dennis Lehane
theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/05/hookers-guns-and-money/3125/
Until Gwen Response
What about "Until Gwen" sticks out the most to you? You could focus on a scene, an image, a character, the style, the point of view, a theme--anything really. Write a perfect paragraph of 5-7 sentences in response.
Also:
"Until Gwen"
Use the title "Until Gwen" in a sentence about the main character of this story: "Until Gwen, he ______. During Gwen, he ______. After Gwen, he ______." Do the same with the main character's father: "Until Gwen, his father ______. During Gwen, his father ______. After Gwen, his father ______." Describe the lasting impact Gwen had on these two men. Are there similarities?
At the story's end, the main character has all the means to completely re-invent himself. Financially he is secure. On paper he has no past. He is able to completely start somewhere new where no one knows him. If you could write an epilogue to this story, one year later, where would he be?
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Until Gwen Response
ReplyDeleteAngela Rollins
What sticks out most to me is the character of the father. He is the central conflict, and the most intriguing character of the story. He is a conman in the ultimate sense. Not only does he con people for money and strip his son of a documented identity, but he also kills without hesitation. Everything he does is for himself and his own survival. He wants to retire to Mexico, a very odd dream for a man of his demeanor. He is very determined and pulls the story along with interesting twists and turns. The hinting that he killed the hooker, Mandy, creates an eerie affect. In the end you find out that he killed Gwen. Throughout the whole story you can see his controlling personality which has obviously dictated Bobby’s like for a long time. It is the father that sticks out most to me, because he is an interesting antagonist propelling the plot onward.
"Until Gwen, he was nobody and had nothing. During Gwen, he thought he finally had purpose and an identity. After Gwen, he lost himself again." Do the same with the main character's father: "Until Gwen, his father had control. During Gwen, his father lost his power over him. After Gwen, his father lost any remnants of control."
Describe the lasting impact Gwen had on these two men. Are there similarities?
Gwen gave Bobby a purpose. While Bobby isn’t even documented as being born, Gwen made him feel like he was a person who belonged. She saw him like no one else had even tried to see him. That isn’t something that goes away whether she lives or dies. If even briefly, she knew him and showed him how to know himself. Because of this, Bobby will always feel like he has an identity, or at least that he deserves one. Because of Gwen, Bobby will always have a sense of deserving something.
Bobby’s father controlled Bobby. His son had no identity or reason, and because of this his father was a strong figure in his life. Because of Gwen, this changed. When Gwen gave Bobby love and purpose, she stole Bobby from his father and his schemes. This is something that can never be changed, which is why ultimately Bobby’s father plans to kill Bobby. Gwen has changed reality forever for both son and father.
In a year, Bobby would be living in an apartment he pays for with money from the diamond, and he’d be trying to find work. Since he has no documentation, finding work will obviously be a struggle and he often gets fired. He’ll maybe even be trying to find out who his mother was. I think I would also include a woman in the epilogue. Someone not like Gwen in any way except that she sees Bobby like Gwen did. He’d be falling in love with her, a slow and hard process since he still is grieving over Gwen and a little scarred from her murder. I think it would be necessary though to show a happy ending, which I think Bobby deserves.
Shannon Kalia
ReplyDeleteMs. Gamzon
December 19, 2011
Creative Writing Response
What stuck out to me the most was the use of second person point of view, and the imagery the author used. I felt that by saying “you”, I paid more attention to the details in the story and felt more involved and not as bored while reading it. Another thing that stuck out to me was the relationship between the father and son, and how the son reminisces over the girl Gwen he liked, that died. Parts that stuck out the most wee how the son had a loss of identity because he and his father didn’t know his name, place of birth, etc. I think that this made Gwen even more relevant, because despite how he had feelings for her, he also said she made him feel like he found himself and was content with that, and without her, he wondered.
"Until Gwen, he had no idea who he was.. During Gwen, he knew who he was. After Gwen, he wondered who he was. Do the same with the main character's father: "Until Gwen, his father scammed people. During Gwen, his father killed and buried her at the fairgrounds. After Gwen, his father digs her grave out and finds the diamond. “
The picture says that the son in the story has to dig up Gwen’s body, and find the diamond she had swallowed. It also says that since his father killed Gwen, he kills him, and buries his father in the same grave Gwen was in.
If there was an epilogue, Bobby could’ve started a new life under a new name. He could’ve got a new job and forgot about his father. Maybe he could meet a new girl who isn’t Gwen and fall in love with her, and find his purpose, like he did when he used to be with Gwen. He could have a better life because he found the stone which probably made him a lot of money.
Taylor Rugg
ReplyDelete“Until Gwen” by Dennis Lehane is a short story written in the second person about a young man named Bobby who has just gotten out of jail and his father is waiting for him to reveal the hiding spot of a diamond that was stolen before Bobby’s jail time. The part that stands out the most is the last few pages, starting when Bobby and his father go to the fairgrounds as a possible site of the diamond. Before this, it has been foreshadowed and even stated once by the narrator that: “Here’s what you know about your father above all else—people have a way of vanishing in his company.” Mandy, the part-time hooker and inspiring screenplay writer, was supposedly taken home by Bobby’s father, but throughout the short story, the reader realizes along with Bobby that Mandy was not taken home, but simply “gotten rid of.” The last few pages are the most intriguing to me because Bobby reveals that he has countered his father’s plan by making sure that the gun doesn’t work and he admits that he knows what happened to Gwen. The dialogue between Bobby and his father about the diamond and how Bobby had prepared Gwen for his father’s pursuit is fast-paced and easy to follow along with. The ending is unexpected but not beyond realism; the father digs up Gwen’s grave and realizes that the diamond was in her stomach. And the ending ironically brings around the phrase of “like father, like son.”
The picture on the blog depicts the last scene of the story. It is almost from the point of view of Gwen or Bobby’s father from inside the grave, looking up at Bobby after he has killed his father with the shovel. It shows Bobby has strong and confident; he doesn’t seem to be weak or have remorse after the murder.
One year later, Bobby would be back in prison. Although he misses the comfort of a shower and a double bed, he has found comfort in the routine of prison too. After the murder of his father, he took the diamond and hid it again. And then he turned himself in. Gwen was gone, Mandy was gone, his mother was gone… people around his father had a habit of disappearing. Bobby had a feeling that just because his father was dead didn’t mean that that wouldn’t continue. He looked out the window sometimes at jail and he could see the fairground still, the hole where his love and his father were buried, their bones crusted with dirt. And he’d walk away from the window to work out or eat or sit mindlessly in front of a TV, trying to forget where the diamond was hidden.
"Until Gwen, he had no idea who he really was. During Gwen, he felt he had an identity, despite not having any record of who he was. After Gwen, he was lost again, searching for himself."
"Until Gwen, his father had the reputation of making people disappear. During Gwen, his father waited to receive the diamond that was stolen from George by Gwen and Bobby. After Gwen, his father waited for Bobby to get out of prison so he could find the diamond."
Bobby is the same before and after Gwen; it’s only while he is with her that he knows who he is and he feels confident in having an identity. Bobby’s father doesn’t change throughout the course of Gwen – before, during, or after. He always seems to have the reputation of making people disappear, although after Gwen is gone, he is more impatient to find the diamond since he has killed the only other person who would’ve known its whereabouts besides Bobby.
Ashley Lawson
ReplyDeleteThe picture refers to the protagonist standing over the grave of his girlfriend and his father after killing his father. The thing about Until Gwen that sticks out the most to me is the relationship between the father and son. The son, Bobby, the protagonist lived a life of crime with his father. His father influenced him to steal from people and scam people for money. The greedy influence led Bobby into stealing a diamond and getting caught. In the end, it was his father’s intention to kill his son over the diamond, and Bobby instead ends up killing him.
"Until Gwen, he had no idea who he was. During Gwen, he knew who he was and he had a name. After Gwen, he was nobody again.”
"Until Gwen, his father lived a life of crime. During Gwen, his father influenced him the wrong way and led him in the wrong direction. After Gwen, his father was killed by him as a result of greed and revenge."
Gwen made Bobby see what more there was to life. How the crimes he committed didn’t make him who he was and that she loved him. She changed Bobby for the better.
The father hunted Gwen down for the diamond that she swallowed, and brought her back to the fair grounds. The grave he dug for her, little did he know, soon became his own.
One year later he would have made something of himself. He would be somewhere far away from his past and he would have given money to charity. He would have changed his ways and did everything he could to not be like his father. He would have found a girl and settled down, maybe had kids.
Briyanna Brinkley
ReplyDelete-This picture describes the part after “Bobby” made his father dig Gwen back up, then hit his father in the head with the shovel. After killing his father he stood over him wishing that he had taken a picture of Gwen because now looking at her body he doesn’t remember what she looks like.
-The part that sticks out to me the most would be when he realizes what his father plans on doing to him and what he did to Gwen. The way he knew everything he was going to do, how he was going to take him to the fairgrounds and how he knew exactly how his father planned to kill him; shows that Bobby was always a few steps ahead of his father. While in jail he realizes that his father would kill Gwen regardless if his father had the stone or not. I also like this part because it shows that Bobby was nothing like his father and he actually cared for someone other than himself.
- Until Gwen he didn’t have a sense of the man he was, he didn’t know anything about himself. He didn’t know his name, where he was born, nothing that could point him in the direction of finding these things either. During Gwen he found this things, he found love and happiness. Bobby realized that he didn’t necessarily have to have a name to be someone just as long as he felt he was something. After Gwen he lost someone close to him, he lost Gwen the one thing that made him happy, though in other words you can say he lost his identity.
Until Gwen his father, was the same scheming man he had always been. He was the same manipulating, thieving, liar he grew to be. He used the people around him until they no longer held a purpose then when he was done he killed them. During Gwen he was the same man. He used “his son” to help him steal a stone then disposed of the people he no longer needed, like his son’s mother, George and Gwen. After Gwen he was the same exact man but with different motives. While his son was in prison he stalked Gwen down and killed her in order to get the stone then he waited three years for his son to get out of prison in order to kill him the same way he killed Gwen.
- Gwen had an impact on both men, with Bobby he sort of transformed into a totally different man. He found love and happiness with this women who taught him to believe in himself because he was something and that he didn’t necessarily need a name or social security number to be someone. While with his father, Gwen’s presence made him an even more selfish man, he only wanted the stone and in order to get that he would use everyone around him.
The picture is a representation of the end of the story, when Bobby and his dad dig up Gwen’s grave. Also, the way it is using the birds eye view shows how in the end, Bobby ends up coming out on top.
ReplyDeleteThe part of until Gwen that really struck me was the ending, with Gwen’s skeleton in the grave. First of all, it is just completely sad how she ends up dead. The language Lehane uses is sad and depressing and yet almost chilling at the same time. The imagery was so good that I could imagine everything about the skeleton. I could only imagine the way Bobby felt when faced with Gwen’s body. Lehane does an amazing job with that scene, personally, and the way Bobby comes out on top is enlightening to me.
Until Gwen, Bobby was lost; he was a nobody and he had no identity. During Gwen, he discovered some of himself. After Gwen, he had the resources to create a life for himself.
Until Gwen, Bobby’s father was a heart0-less con man. During Gwen, he was still a heart-less con man. After Gwen, he paid for being a heartless con man.
In a year from the end of the story, I see Bobby having built a new life for himself. With new love and a new way of living.
Bobby – Until Gwen, he didn’t know who he was. During Gwen, he knew who he was. After Gwen, he was back to wondering.
ReplyDeleteFather – Until Gwen he was a conman. During Gwen, he was a conman. After Gwen, he was dead.
Gwen had a larger effect on Bobby’s life than the father. She helped to show Bobby who he was and helped him to reach his full potential. She was there for Bobby through everything. She did have a small effect on the father. I think that she just made things a little more difficult for the father. She seemed to be in the was of his plans and cause more chaos for him.
The part of the story that stuck out to me the most was the details of the story that seemed irrelevant. It confused the story more and I don’t think that they helped to further the plot. For example, the old lady being shot and the prostitute.
In an interview for the Atlantic, author Dennis Lehane discusses his short story, Until Gwen, a noir story of a man who grows up without a sense of identity, is trained by his father to perpetrate schemes and crimes all over the country, and on the way, falls in love with a woman who finally makes him realize who he is. More than the second-person narration, which did draw me into the story and augment the fact that the narrator is void of an identity, the thing that stuck out for me about this story was the plot structure: in this broken narrative, taking place over the course of six hours, Lehane’s characters are defined exclusively through their actions. We do not learn of the narrator’s suspicions about Gwen (that she is dead) until he takes his father to an abandoned fairground and his father surmises them. We do not learn the reason for the narrator’s imprisonment until much later in the story—through the introduction of George and the stealing of the diamond. Perhaps even more importantly, the narrator’s relationships are defined through what they do: we learn of the narrator’s relationship with his father through drunken conversations and scenes in the father’s apartment; we know that Gwen is so in love with the narrator that she helps him commit crimes. Gwen never comes out and says the depth of her love, but she poses as a nurse, and she swallows a diamond for the narrator—and this is sufficient to show her love.
ReplyDeleteUntil Gwen, he was nothing but his father’s instrument, dragged all over the country to enact schemes and commit crimes. During Gwen, he is Bobby. After Gwen, he is without a father, without a name, without a past.
Until Gwen, his father was a “consummate con man.” During Gwen, he is the same. After, he is the same—the basis of the father’s character never changes. After Gwen, he becomes obsessed with finding the diamond that she swallowed, but he is perpetually focused on lying, on ensnaring others, on the catch and the kill and the money afterwards.
In a possible epilogue, the narrator has reinvented himself. He has taken on a new name, has moved somewhere new, but he does not have a family. The narrator is haunted by his ghosts—Gwen, his father, and his lack of an identity. He does what he knows—driving around the country, never staying in the same place for long, making some money on the side with his father’s cons. Everywhere he goes, he asks about his father, trying to figure out who he (the narrator) is and where he came from. He has a insatiable desire to find his identity.
Desire Giddens
ReplyDeleteMs. Gamzon
Contemporary Writers
December 19, 2011
What about "Until Gwen" sticks out the most to you?
The relationship between the main character and his father is so odd. They lie to each other so much, and the father keeps so many secrets from the kid. What kind of father gives his son a hooker as a welcome present from jail? I just didn’t understand the family dynamic, because I’m used to the normal Average Joe family. “A bottle of whiskey and a hooker who gives shitty head? That took you three months?” Bobby questions his father’s actions quite a bit throughout the story. He doesn’t understand why his father is the way he is, but at the end of the story, he kills his father, and joins him on the list of murderers.
"Until Gwen, he was lost. During Gwen, he was finally complete. After Gwen, he killed his father." Do the same with the main character's father: "Until Gwen, his father killed people. During Gwen, his father disappeared. After Gwen, his father killed people." Describe the lasting impact Gwen had on these two men. Are there similarities?
At the story's end, the main character has all the means to completely re-invent himself. Financially he is secure. On paper he has no past. He is able to completely start somewhere new where no one knows him. If you could write an epilogue to this story, one year later, where would he be?
He would be in jail again. He is his father’s child, and killing his father impacts him. He becomes addicted and thinks that he can get away with murder as his father did.
I think that the picture gives the creepy and dark feeling that the story gives the reader. The angle from which the picture is at makes the person looking at it feel like they’re Gwen or in the hole and feeling a sense of vulnerability as if suddenly found. It shows how the story is looked at in an unusual point of view.
ReplyDeleteWhat stuck out to me the most in Until Gwen is Gwen. I just noticed how Gwen was introduced and already integrated into the entire short story from the very beginning. Dennis Lehane knew what he wanted to write and had everything planned and in his control. Gwen had a huge purpose as a character and wasn’t just there, obviously, since the title even has her name in it. The reader gets the notion that she is important, what Bobby’s life revolves around, so much so he does what he does in the story and how concerned he is about her. The way she’s characterized through the thoughts of Bobby really stuck out too. How she flutters through his mind occasionally, not making much sense to the reader in the beginning, but truly giving one the sense of being enveloped in his mind.
Until Gwen, Bobby didn’t have much meaning to his life. He talks about how he doesn’t really know where he was born or anything like that and it feels like he doesn’t have any importance or reason to live at all. This all changes during Gwen, as he feels like there’s someone that cares about him: Gwen. Every time she looks at him, he says that he feels like he actually matters. After Gwen, he’s sort of stuck thinking about her all the time. It’s better than what he thought until Gwen and he grows beyond his father. Until, before, and after Gwen, his father was the same. He disposes those he doesn’t need anymore and only concerned about himself. Gwen had a huge impact on these men. While Bobby’s father didn’t change in personality, she did make an impact. She had the diamond all along and was what he was looking for all this time. While on the other hand, she impacted Bobby’s life and outlook on life.
If there was an epilogue, Bobby probably would’ve gone on living. He wouldn’t have done something like commit suicide. Bobby would’ve gone out and done something more with his life, even if he was caught for murdering his father, even if he had to go back to prison. Gwen taught him he meant something and he had a life, which gave him the right to be who he was.
The sentence, “You’ve learned that every good lie is threaded with truth and every accepted truth leaks with lies.” This line, especially, stood out to me, because, I think that for bobby, especially, it was a very influential quote, and it defines Bobby and his past, well. His entire life has been basically a lie, and while he has accepted that, it seems like he isn’t happy with it. It seems that the only time he is happy with his life is when he’s with Gwen. But then, this quote makes the reader wonder if any of this is true, or even plausible, seeing as, “every truth is threaded with lies”.
ReplyDeleteIll finish this later, just wanted to show you I did something today. :)
What sticks out the most to me in "Until Gwen" is vivid imagery that the author brings out using second person. The second person style drives you deep into the mind of the characters and makes you feel like you are in the characters shoes. The part where George’s mother had fell on the floor really showed that the characters had sympathy and really showed some character development. He uses Gwen to talk about how he “found” himself and his identity. The beginning of it was kind of confusing but understandable towards the end.
ReplyDeleteUntil Gwen Response
ReplyDeleteWhat about "Until Gwen" sticks out the most to you? You could focus on a scene, an image, a character, the style, the point of view, a theme--anything really. Write a perfect paragraph of 5-7 sentences in response.
The one part that sticks out the most to me in this story is when the son and the old man are in the ten-by-ten room looking over the papers. The son picks up the papers and begins reading them and I thought the letters were from previous tenants but they were one of many scams. Here it is that the son just got out of prison yet his father seems not to care at all. The old man got him a bottle of whiskey and brought him a hooker but other than that he is ready to get right back to business. This made me think that either the man is not his real father or he is a hardcore dad who wants his son to be trained well enough to handle whatever their lifestyle throws at them.
His dad shows no sympathy for him by not sharing the truth about who his son really is and where he came from. When speaking of being shot, the old guy doesn’t even want to hear it and makes smart remarks about it. I think that being in that room with his dad and reading those scam papers was like the last straw for him. After doing some years in prison “Bobby” had enough time to think about a lot which caused his realization that he is nobody Until Gwen
Until Gwen, he lost.
During Gwen, he was happy.
After Gwen, he was destroyed.
"Until Gwen, his father was in control.
During Gwen, his father was unhappy.
After Gwen, his father expected more.
Well now, if I were to write what things would be like for Bobby a year later, here is how it would be.
He would change his name to Cameron and he would live in Delaware, with no wife.
The picture is simply an illustration of a man holding a shovel, with the perspective being underneath him in a deep hole dug out presumably by that shovel. The colors, although rather minimal, suggest it is sunset. Relating it to the story, it can be interpreted as relating to the end scene of the story, with the events lining up and leaving the main character Bobby over the grave of Gwen and his father, and the sunset color perhaps hinting at the end of one chapter of his life.
ReplyDeleteUntil Gwen was an engaging, interesting story, notable for its use of the second person point of view. To me, this was incredibly interesting, and the story immediately sucks the reader right in within the first few lines. The plot of the story works extremely well with second person; without it, the plot definitely would have needed to be rounded out more. Through second person, you only can see as much as the character can, and so any missed details are thoroughly human. I was completely amazed by the images focused on, as well; the idea of a character not having any idea who they are, in a literal sense (this is heightened by the gritty personality and disinterest in Bobby as a whole) and as well as in a more distant sense, as Bobby is unable to fully grasp who or what his mother was like. This ties into the lack of photographic evidence of these people as well (the idea that there is no photographs of his mother or of Gwen bothers Bobby).
Until Gwen, Bobby was a stranger to himself and to everyone else. During Gwen, he was given an identity he could stick to, and after Gwen, he was reduced to having absolutely nothing tying him to his past.
Until Gwen, Bobby's father is a liar and a con man. During and after, he is the same-- his character never actually progresses past the greasy exterior he is initially shown.
I feel like a good point to start an epilogue for Bobby’s character would be for him to start somewhere absolutely new, a new town with a more simple appeal. Somehow, though, I feel as if the grimy sense of disparity must remain within the city; perhaps the town he moves to is, in reality, just as awful as the one he returned from prison to.
The picture is somewhat of a visual description of the end of the story. The reader is looking up at the man with no identity. The view at which we look up at him also draws the reader into the second person point of view.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that sticks out the most is the vey last scene. “You hit him in the head with the shovel, and the old man says, “Now, hold on,” and you hit him again, seeing her face, the mole on her left breast, her laughing once with her mouth full of popcorn, and then the third swing makes the old man’s head tilt funny on his neck, and you swing once more to be sure and then sit down, feet dangling into the grave.” While reading this in second person, it gives off a suspenseful and creepy feeling. I’m not sure if it was just me, but I felt myself actually holding the shovel and actually hitting him in the head. It also reflects the life of crime and violence, which is a very important theme.
"Until Gwen, he had no identity. During Gwen, he realized who he was. After Gwen, he was back at the beginning and forced to start over."
"Until Gwen, his father was able to control himself. During Gwen, his father loses control and buries her. After Gwen, his father does everything in his power to retrieve the diamond."
If I were to write an epilogue, I would show how the man’s life has changed since he found the diamond. He would live a life of luxuries, but later learn that his past is far too heavy to completely forget about. While trying to change, he eventually goes back to his violent ways.
Mariah Gonzalez
ReplyDelete“Until Gwen” is a short story written in second person point a view. Readers are introduced to the three main characters of Bobby, Gwen and Bobby’s father, and soon realize that Bobby and his father are in search of an item that Bobby has hidden before he is arrested and imprisoned. Throughout the story, Bobby lingers on memories of Gwen, demonstrating that she is no longer apart of his life even though he still loves her. The tone is set between the two of Bobby and his father immediately, showing readers that their relationship is formed from illegal action, schemes and substances. From the very beginning, Bobby seems distant from his father never seeming to fully trust him. These two characters seem to use the other, his father coming off as more manipulative towards his son then caring. Bobby comes off as a character of much more emotion, this characterization supported by him still loving Gwen as well as continuing to hold a grudge towards his father for killing George. Bobby and his father’s relationship is not compassionate, the beginning of “Until Gwen” immediately showing this by his father welcoming him home with a bottle of alcohol and prostitute. By doing this, the mood of the story is already set. “Until Gwen” is a story in which readers learn what is happening while they read, rather then the information given all at once and is not at all predictable.
This picture says that Bobby is a strong character. It reflects the scene of when Bobby is standing over the grave of Gwen; the secret of where he has hidden the Diamond finally revealed to readers. The way that Bobby is looking away, shows that he most likely does not want to look at the one person he’s loved dead and buried. Stated in the story, Bobby feels guilty for not having been able to save her from his father. Although he does not want to see Gwen in the state that she is, Bobby does miss her, and by may have dug her back up in order to be able to say goodbye.
“Until Gwen, he was glum. During Gwen, he was hopeful and alive. After Gwen, he was lost. During Gwen his father was bitter. After Gwen his father was happy.”
This picture is the final image of the story, with us looking up at the man with a missing identity, the world cold and bare around him. The only light is the ominous red that falls upon him, covering half his body with the stains of the blood red, the other half shrouded in blue darkness.
ReplyDeleteThe most obvious thing that sticks out in "Until Gwen" is Lehane's style—the way he crafts the disturbing, unsettling violence and graphic scenes that chill the reader's senses. Of course, the fact that it is written in the second person also sticks out because it is what lends itself to the effectiveness of the horror noir genre that the story presents. Lehane's story is fiercely original, and through his conventions each image jumps off the page and lashes the reader in—whether they like it or not.
Until Gwen, he is wandering. During Gwen, he is found. After Gwen, he is gone. Until Gwen, his father was a con man. During Gwen, his father is a con man. After Gwen, his father becomes mad and obsessed.
It's hard to say what would happen to the character a year later after the story takes place. But, perhaps, he has moved on and started to craft an identity for himself. He is obviously still haunted by his past and the figures that surrounded his life, and this has to be what drives him.